#lillywhite

First Gentlemen vs Players Match Won by the Players — 1836

Through the 1820s the Gentlemen of England had usually beaten the Players because the match-rules tilted heavily in the amateurs' favour (often the Gentlemen were given extra batsmen or the Players had to use given men). In 1836, with the rules levelled and the Players fielding their full strength of Lillywhite, Pilch, Mynn and Cobbett, the professionals at last won the match cleanly — the start of decades of professional dominance.